Gentle Folks
by lollygirl128
Summary: He's not supposed to be out of bed. He's supposed to be in the infirmary with Annabeth, letting the numerous wounds he got in Tartarus heal. He's also not supposed to be thinking these thoughts, the thoughts that he can't help but think, when it seems like his godly family isn't so different from what Luke had said they were. But Annabeth knows just what to say. One-shot.


Gentle Folks

*****UPDATED AS OF AUGUST 19TH TO FIX TYPOS AND GRAMMATICAL ERRORS*****

**A/N Hey! A one-shot!**

**Okay, so I've never done a story where I included a song before, but I'm gonna try it. I was listening to Gentle Folks by Hunter Hunted, and the lyrics gave me the idea for this, so I figured why not. This isn't one of those stories where you need to listen to the song _while_ you read the story, but it definitely would not hurt if you listened to it beforehand or something. There are more lyrics in the song that fit well with the story that I didn't include here.**

**Anyway, the title of this story is also the title of the song, and no copyright infringement is implied.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

_"Storm on the way,_

_we forget what it's for._

_So hard to be brave,_

_don't believe anymore."_

_-Gentle Folks, Hunter Hunted_

Percy Jackson stood at the rail of the Argo II, glaring at the sea. He wasn't really supposed to be up. He was supposed to be in the infirmary, letting his injuries heal, allowing everyone to wait on him hand and foot.

Anyone who thought he was gonna do that didn't know him very well.

He had actually behaved quite well. He stayed in bed when people were awake, he ate and drank when asked (even though his size-of-a-walnut stomach rarely asked for food), and spent most of the time asleep. He even stayed out of Annabeth's bed when he didn't need to be there.

And he really _did_ need to be there sometimes. Neither could stand being out of contact with the other, as they had spent the entirety of their time in Tartarus holding each other, so as not to lose each other in the darkness. Annabeth needed to sleep curled up next to Percy, or else the nightmares would overcome both of them. So if he was asleep before she was, she crawled into his bed and slept there. But he almost always stayed in hers.

As he thought about this, he hoped she was okay while he was gone. He thought about waking her to tell her he was leaving, but she was in desperate need of sleep. He was too, but she wasn't the one who was afraid to sleep at night.

Gods, it hurt to even admit that to _himself_. How weak was he? People can't go through life being afraid of the dark, even if they had the most absolutely valid reason in the history of the world.

Percy leaned his waist against the railing, unwilling and unable to put his injured arm on the rail. Even then, he winced as this put pressure on his severely bruised hip and a few barely-mended broken ribs. Honestly, there wasn't a lot of him that wasn't injured.

He had a long cut on his forehead that was covered by a white cotton strip. He had a concussion. His left arm was in a sling after his shoulder was dislocated, which he vaguely remembered someone fixing once he was back on the ship. Fixing it had been as painful as the injury itself, that much he remembered through the fog of unconsciousness he had been in. He had broken the last two fingers on his right hand. He had two broken ribs, each on the right. He had somehow bruised his hips severely, probably when he was tackled by a hellhound on the way out of Tartarus. He had a sprained knee on the left leg, and a twisted ankle on the right. Last but not least, his first three toes had been broken on the left foot. Luckily those were the first to heal, or else he wouldn't have been able to walk for days. He looked like he had just fought a war.

Oh, wait. Ha! He had.

But whatever. He's a demigod. That's what they're made for. For cleaning up messes, diffusing potentially world-ending fights between gods, and fighting in _wars_ at any age between twelve and eighteen. Oh, and they make a mean snack for monsters. And honestly, for what? A little attention from the parents that had abandoned them?

Percy narrowed his eyes at the vast stretch of water in front of him, like it had done him a personal disservice. It wasn't the ocean that had done anything wrong, really, it was the guy in charge of it. And that guy's siblings. And nieces, and nephews. Don't forget his parents, aunts, uncles; really, anyone related to Percy on the godly side. Oh, and don't get him started on their multiple personality disorders.

What was wrong with a group of all-powerful beings who sent their children on quests so dangerous that there was always a strong chance that the children would die? Better yet, why would they continue to bring children into this dangerous world? It's not like there was the off chance that _this one _would be normal. They're all gonna be demigods. They're all gonna fight to survive until they get to camp, where they're gonna train to survive when on quests. Then, they were most likely going to live a short life filled with death-defying stunts and one stunt that didn't defy it. It was cruel and unfair to force children into a life that they never did anything to deserve.

It was unfair that he had a family who had all but pushed him into the deepest pit of hell, leaving him and his girlfriend to fight their way out.

The sun started to peek at him from beyond the horizon, casting away the blue and green and purple, and replacing them with rays of orange, red, and yellow. The calm water in front of him reflected it merrily, creating a picture-perfect scene. It was like the ocean was saying "Hey, don't be mad at me, I'm pretty! You know you love me."

Damn it. The ocean was right. There were a lot of things wrong with the train of thought he had just been on, one of which being that it sounded _way_ too similar to something someone he had once known had said. Someone who had only been slightly older than him when he had acted on his poisonous thoughts. Someone who had had blonde hair and blue eyes, someone who had been Percy's friend. That man was dead now, because he had followed that train of thought.

He heard a swish behind him, and turned to see Annabeth standing in the doorway that led inside, clutching a blanket from the infirmary around her shoulders. Her wild princess curls blew in the soft wind, and she looked at him with those eyes that he loved, no matter how broken and sad they looked right now. She was a vision of loveliness, even with the sharp angles in her face, the purple circles under her eyes, and her pale and chapped lips.

Annabeth started to hobble over to him, trying to keep the blanket around her as she used her crutches to keep weight off of her ankle. Percy walked over to her quickly, holding the blanket around her so it didn't fall as she continued to make her way to where Percy had been standing. She shot him a grateful look as they awkwardly made their way to the rail.

When they made it, Annabeth leaned against the edge and held the blanket to herself as Percy took her crutches out from under her arms and leaned them against the wall. He moved as close as was humanly possible to his girlfriend and put his uninjured arm around her. Neither cared that they hadn't said a word yet, because they were used to showing their affection through physical contact. In fact, they had probably spoken less than two hundred words since getting on the ship, combined.

They watched as the sun came up, the light progressively turning from red, to orange, to yellow, to light blue. They stood there, together, watching the sun rise, simply enjoying the fact that they could see colors again, as opposed to the constant black and gray in Tartarus. After the sun was completely uncovered by the horizon, Annabeth broke the silence.

"I woke up after you left," she told him in a cracky, rarely used voice. "Thought I'd come find you."

Percy nodded. "I figured you would wake up. I'd hoped I would be back before then, though."

Annabeth shrugged. "Nice to be out of the sick bay."

Percy nodded, and they were quiet once more.

After a few minutes, Annabeth spoke again. "What were you brooding about?"

Percy turned his head to look at her. "What makes you think I was brooding?"

She tilted her head and gave him her 'do you really think I'm that dumb?' look.

Percy pursed his lips and looked back to the horizon. "Nothing important."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and put her head on his shoulder. "You could've thought about something unimportant in the sick bay, you came out here to think about something. Why won't you tell me?"

Percy was silent for a minute, then answered her in a quiet voice.

"Do you ever wonder what we're doing?"

Annabeth moved her head so her chin was on his shoulder instead of her temple. She looked at his profile. "We're saving the world."

Percy closed his eyes and nodded once. "Yeah. I know."

Annabeth frowned and picked her chin up off his shoulder and grabbed his jaw, then she turned his head so he faced her. He opened his eyes to look into her gray ones. "You better not have been thinking what I think you were," she told him, her eyes regaining a bit of their old calculation.

"What do you think I was thinking?" he asked her.

She took her hand off of his jaw and crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you were feeling sorry for yourself."

"I wasn't—"

"I think you were thinking about how hard our lives are, and how we don't deserve it."

"We don't—"

But Annabeth wouldn't let him speak, because she was on a roll. "And how regular mortals with regular lives wouldn't be recovering from being in Tartarus for three weeks, they'd be worrying about their next test in math and anticipating their next date with their boyfriend or girlfriend. They wouldn't be worrying about the next world war, because that's our job, right?"

"Annab—"

"They'd be wondering what they're having for dinner with their _normal _parents, not eating as they discuss their next move in a war with their teenaged demigod friends. They're shopping for cool new clothes, while we're making sure our armor fits right. They have cell phones? We have drachmas. They're wondering what they'll wear tomorrow? We're wondering if we'll be _alive_ tomorrow."

She paused to take a breath, and Percy wisely didn't interrupt her. She looked at the horizon and then looked back at him. He saw tears shining in her eyes.

"You're not the only one who wishes things were different, Percy. we all wish for some normality. But I swear to the _gods_, Percy, if I lose you because you start thinking like Luke did? I will _never_ forgive you. That is selfish, and mean… and—and…" she broke off as her voice failed her, and sniffed as she rubbed her eyes. Percy carefully rubbed circles in her back while she regained herself.

"Annabeth," he all but whispered.

"What?" she snapped in a weak voice.

"I know."

She glared at him, and he continued. "You're right. I just want some normality. I want to anticipate our next date, and eat dinner with my mom and Paul, and beg you for answers on my homework. I don't want to have to constantly look over my shoulder, and hope that you're alright until the next time I see you.

"But then, nothing would be the same if everything were normal. You'd live in Virginia. I'd live in New York. And we wouldn't be the same people. Our first kiss wouldn't have been in a volcano, and our third one wouldn't have been underwater." He looked into her eyes, and used his thumb to wipe the tears from under them.

"I may be stupid enough to wish a few things were different, but I'm not stupid enough to wish we weren't demigods. And I'm definitely not stupid enough to think the same things Luke did. Ok?"

She looked him square in the eyes. "You promise?" she muttered.

He nodded solemnly.

She seemed to deflate with relief. "You're a seaweed brain," she told him, and she hugged him as tightly as she dared. Still, it was too tight, as he groaned and shifted his torso to alleviate the pressure from his ribs. She grimaced. "Sorry."

He shrugged with his good shoulder. "A kiss instead?"

She rolled her eyes, but accepted his request. He leaned down slightly and met her lips gently. She put her arm around his neck to keep him there longer, but too late realized her mistake when she tried to go on tip-toe to get closer to him. She lost her footing on her injured foot and fell forward onto him, and he (being injured as well) did not catch her in time. They both fell sideways, Percy luckily landing with most of his weight on his good arm, but hurting his ribs and newly mended fingers. She fell almost on top of him, but put her weight into her elbows on either side if him so she didn't hurt him further.

He lay on his back with a grimace, breathing through his nose, while she looked down on him with panic on her features. Before she could speak though, someone else did for her.

"I'd've thought you guys were too injured for that kind of _activity_," said Leo from the doorway. His arms were crossed and he leaned against the door jamb. Percy and Annabeth both strained the necks to see him. Then they reevaluated the positions they were in, with Percy supporting Annabeth's ribs in a somewhat intimate way, and Annabeth hovering over him with her face inches from his.

Annabeth scrambled off of him and quickly stood up, grabbing her crutches, while Percy pushed himself up off the floor with his good arm and stood next to her. They looked at Leo, who was hiding his smirk with difficulty.

"How long have you been standing there?" Percy asked.

"Just long enough to see you to fall all over each other."

Annabeth was glaring at Leo, so Percy spoke for both of them. "We weren't… we were just…"

Leo raised his eyebrows, trying to get Percy to finish his sentence.

"We fell over."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, I saw that much."

Annabeth continued to glare, so Percy changed the subject. "What're you doing up?"

"I'm the supreme commander of this thing, I get up early. The real question is, what're _you_ doing up? You know Piper will kill you if she sees you up."

Percy nodded. Piper had decided she would be the ship's matron for the time being, as they had no one from Apollo to lend their expertise. "We just wanted to get out of the sick bay for a while."

Leo nodded. "Well she's gonna be up soon, so I'd get back to bed if I were you two."

Percy nodded. "Thanks, man."

Leo nodded as well, and started toward Festus to get an update. "You two lovebirds be good," he called over his shoulder.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, while Percy just ignored him. He picked up Annabeth's crutches and blanket, then they headed back to the infirmary in silence. They went to Percy's bed, and Annabeth let him get in first, as he was more injured than her. Once he was comfortable, she crawled in next to him.

Annabeth was almost asleep when Percy spoke.

"So, do you wish things were different sometimes too?"

She nodded against his chest. "I think all demigods do, Seaweed Brain."

He was quiet for a moment. "So I'm not a bad son, or nephew, or whatever for thinking we're overused sometimes?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Just a little bitter. But I think that's ok."

Percy nodded to himself. "Ok. Annabeth?"

"Yes, Percy?"

"Love you."

Annabeth nodded against his chest once more. "Love you too."

They were both quiet after that, their breaths slowing until they were both fast asleep.

**A/N Ugh, I hate writing endings. It's my least favorite thing to write, I always feel like I'm ending it abruptly.**

**So anyone who's read my story They Never Came Back, you probably saw some similarities in this story. And don't freak out about the other story, I haven't abandoned it. I just need to work around the writer's block I experience every time I open that story to finish it. It'll get done, I promise.**

**Enough self-promoting for me. Hope you liked it! Tell me your likes/dislikes or if you listened to the song in a review!**


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